News | Tour du Limousin • August 19, 2020
Gaviria strikes again at Tour du Limousin
17th win of the season for Emirati squad
On the day of his 26th birthday, Fernando Gaviria put in an emphatic display of strength to win stage 2 of the Tour du Limousin in France.
In a finish marked by narrow roads with punchy climbs, Gaviria saw himself with strong legs, jumping from the bunch and countering the many attacks on the run-in inside 12km to go.
With 25km still left to go, the gap to the breakaway hovered at around 2’30 but with some strong pulls on the front from team captain Marco Marcato and his other UAE teammates the gap was quickly reduced to the three escapees.
The key move came just a kilometre from the line, when Joel Suter (Bingoal- Wallonie Bruxelles) moved clear with Gaviria quickly jumping on his wheel. The Colombian unleashed his trademark sprint with 200m to go to win comfortably and claim the teams 17th victory of the season.
Joel Suter now leads the General Classification with Rui Costa in 9th place at 16’’.
Gaviria: “I’m very happy about today. It’s the best birthday present I could have asked for. Yesterday was just that little bit too hard for me on the second last climb but I looked at the course today and knew it would suit me better. It was a complicated finish. It was important to stay near the front on the narrow roads on the run-in to the line, even if it meant jumping off the front and following attacks , as I did. I’m happy the legs were there to be able to do it. At the moment I’m building up to the big goal which is the Giro d’Italia, but there are a lot of races I want to do well in before then.”
Tomorrow will be another chance for the sprinters on stage 3 from Ussac to Chamberet (177.9k).
Stage 2 results:
1.Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates) 4:13:18
2.Joel Suter (Bingoal- Wallonie Bruxelles) s.t.
3.Kevin Ledanois (Arkea-Samsic) s.t.
General Classification after stage 2:
1.Joel Suter (Bingoal-Wallonie Bruxelles) 8:43:45
2.Luca Wackermann (Vini-Zabu) “
3. Kevin Ledanois (Arkea-Samsic) @7”
9.Rui Costa (UAE Team Emirates) @16”
Photo Credits: Zoe Soullard – Tour du Limousin
